Shot a few pics before sending the Universe Ratchet off to the contest winner (Congrats again, Plowking!), so here's a look at Universe and Henkei Ratchet, together for convenience.



A repaint of the Ironhide mold, They're both white, Universe Ratchet have a double stripe with the heart blip deco in between, Henkei has one red stripe in the same pattern as the yellow on Henkei Ironhide. The red plastic on Universe is the same orangey red as Universe Ironhide, Henkei the same darker red as Henkei Ironhide, and likewise the windows are the allspark and metallic blues, respectively. They've added a lightbar where the sunroof was on Ironhide. Henkei Ratchet uses the same lightbar as the upcoming Henkei Red Alert, Universe Ratchet has the Prowl "boomerang" lightbar in clear blue with a couple of red and blue triangles tampo'd on.



As with their respective Ironhides, Henkei Ratchet has a grey bar instead of a license plate, Universe has H3lP U2, which I've had pointed out is a reference to "Help Us" from the comics, and not simply "Help you too." I think they should have gone with H3LP U5 id that's what they were going for, but a minor concern.



Transformation remains the same, and you see a lot more differences in the resulting bot modes:



Henkei is almost entirely white, red and silver except for the dark grey head crest, Universe throws a lot of black in as well but uses the same orangey red on the crest. I love the fact that the backplate on Universe Ratchet's chest window is black. I wish they'd done that for Ironhide and kept the silver one on Ratchet. I attempted to switch them, but gave up when it proved tougher than I'd thought. No big loss, but I think the black looks good on Ironhide, and the silver looks better on Ratchet.

I did Matt Booker's mod to the Henkei Version that I'm hanging onto, PK can do so to the Universe if he sees fit. You can see the difference in how the head sits in this photo:



From the back they're not much different, although you can get a better look at the lightbars:



The weapons are the same as Ironhide, cannon on one end, energy blade/laser scalpel on the other. Universe Ratchet has a solid red plastic weapon with a clear blue blade, Henkei's is chromed with a red blade.



Here they are deployed. You can also see more of the head issue in this pic:



Overall, it's a fairly solid figure, especially with the aforementioned mods. It suffers from the same flaws/praises as the Ironhide mold, so how you feel about it will run along the same lines as IH, but it's a faithful homage to the original, and worth adding if you're into the line. I think the Henkei version in this case is worth the extra expense, but it all comes down to personal opinion.

Also, if you're interested, the video reviews are up here:

Universe Ratchet (contest is over):

Henkei Ratchet:

 

I still think that Universe 2.0 Ratchet was worth waiting around for, as I think I like it better then Henkei's version. The lightbar and license plate namely are better in my opinion.

I also think the license plate has a 2 for the "s" instead of a 5 is because on the comic cover being homaged, the "s" is backwards, like a 2.

 

great comparison, ive been hoping someone would do this.. definitely gonna pick up henkei ratchet, even though i dont really like the chrome weapon.. but then again, the universe version's weapon doesnt look that great either

 

Thanks for that comparison. It's made my mind up now. Henkei again. It just looks better imo.

 

Yeah, I'm kind of 50/50. I think aside from the windows that Universe has a better looking vehicle mode, but Henkei Ratchet in robot mode is SO much better. And since I tend to display them as robots...

 

I actually like Universe's robot mode better, too, especialy with the black parts, it makes the figure more attractive for me. That, and the blue rear lights make Universe's chest seem more like G1 Ratchet's cartoon chest rather than Henkei's Chrome. Probably the only drawback to either version is that the peice the head is attached to is still red, and so there's that red stripe on the roof that serves no clear purpose except to show that it comes out. Maybe Reprolabels will come out with a Ratchet set and has a sticker to cover it up...

 

wow they fixed the head on henkei ratchet???

 

Thanks for the shout out Peaugh. Ratchet looks great.  

Henkei is by far the better bot, though I'd have preferred an all white roof and a double stripe on the side like the Universe version.

Nope.

MattBooker.info Blog Archive Ironhide Week Part 1

~Matt Booker

 

Henkei Ratchet for teh win!!

 

It's kind of a mix for what I like better for each version. If I felt it was worth it, I would get both and try to trade bits between them. I don't feel that's worth it though, so i'll stick with the universe version.

 

Great review and pics. Hasbro deluxe is $13 so I might just get Henkei.

 

Great comparison - think I'll go Henkei simply for the grey head crest - looks so much better. I'm not a fan of the mold, but between Ironhide and Ratchet, I'll pick Ratchet every time.

 

Have to say if I had to choose one it would probably be Universe surprisingly enough, though I dont think I like the mold enough to buy either honestly.

 

I can't decide! Well, since I have no idea how I'm going to get the Henkei version, I'll go Universe.

 

I'm going with the Universe version. I like the heart blip deco on it its makes ratchet unique. and also fix the head problem, thanks Matt Booker.

 

Thanks now I know how to modify this fugly piece of a universe figure.

 

Actually, I'm pretty sure all of the panels with the lines on them are interchangeable. You could put the double blip and blue lightbar on Henkei Ratchet if you wanted. I almost did it myself before I decided to give away the universe version as a prize.

 

I've already talked to Mike about picking up a Henkei Ratchet from him, there's just the matter of getting paid...

But I might nab a Universe one to switch out those sliding panels with Ironhide. Exactly how difficult do you think it looked to switch, Peaugh?

 

It'd be easy as pie if you can get the pin out. The problem is that the only way to get any leverage to knock that pin out is to set it on the outer tab, but any force whatsoever and said tab starts to bend and wants to break off. I'm sure there's an easier way, but I made up my mind to send it off without spending too much time figuring it out. But yeah, if you can get that ONE pin out from the hinge that attaches that panel to the bumper, it should a a SUPER easy swap.